Failure Is Always An Option

I biked to my mom’s in Burbank today to take care of some business with which she needed help. And then I biked home. It was rather head-windy coming back to Silver Lake, so as I grrr’d and grinded my way up Glendale Boulevard to Silver Lake Boulevard, caught my breath coming around the reservoir and looked forward to the downhill at the south end.

Trouble was the head of steam I’d built up at the top of the curvy grade had to be reversed. As I came around the lower bend I had to lay hard on the brakes and abort my weeeeeeeee to avoid barreling into a lady in a Prius who couldn’t be bothered to obey the ample signage and instead of going down to the next side street to turn, had to instead execute a full bike lane-blocking stop at Van Pelt with her right turn blinker going while attempting to “interpret” the NO RIGHT TURN signs and the cones that reinforced them for any loopholes. Of which there weren’t any:

To most decent people the explicit meaning of this abundant signage is: Don’t Even Think About Turning Right Here. But to this driver, it’s apparently just a suggestion.

 

At the center of her own universe, she was still camped there well after I passed her because I guess she figured the utility workers would have to finish sooner or laterand open the street back up. Or, maybe she thought hybrids were exempt. Or idiots.

Grrrr, indeed.

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Will

Will Campbell arrived in town via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in OneNineSixFour and has never stopped calling Los Angeles home. Presently he lives in Silver Lake with his wife Susan, their cat Rocky, dogs Terra and Hazel, and a red-eared slider turtle named Mater. Blogging since 2001, Will's web endeavors extend back to 1995 with laonstage.com, a comprehensive theater site that was well received but ever-short on capital (or a business model). The pinnacle of his online success (which speaks volumes) arrived in 1997, when much to his surprise, a hobby site he'd built called VisuaL.A. was named "best website" in Los Angeles magazine's annual "Best of L.A." issue. He enjoys experiencing (and writing about) pretty much anything creative, explorational and/or adventurous, loves his ebike, is a better tennis player than he is horr golfer, and a lover of all creatures great and small -- emphasis on "all."